Syrian activists called on Sunday for the Assad government to engage in serious talks on political transition and for the UN to strengthen the fragile ceasefire as violence engulfed parts of the country.

By taking centre stage at the Astana conference with Turkey as its ally and asserting itself in the Syrian civil war by organising a ceasefire, Russia has re-established itself as a global power of consequence.

In conversation with Boris Michel, regional director for Asia Pacific at the International Committee of the Red Cross, on the organisation’s work, the Syrian civil war, the Rohingya crisis, and the way forward for humanitarian and transnational organisations.

Moscow believes that any military success in Syria needs determined and remorseless assault on the enemy without concern for civilians caught in the crossfire, and that the likelihood for political compromise is waning the longer the fighting continues.

It was the first time Russia has used the territory of another nation, apart from Syria itself, to launch such strikes since the Kremlin launched a bombing campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September last year.

The Manbij operation in which US special forces have played a significant role on the ground marks the most ambitious advance by a group allied to Washington in Syria since the US launched its military campaign against ISIS two years ago.

The Aleppo Media Centre, an online opposition news portal for the city, posted a video that it said was of victims of the gas attack: a child and adults wearing breathing apparatus. Two men interviewed said barrel bombs were dropped and there was a strong smell of gas. People then began to suffer breathing and eye problems.

The daily ceasefires in Aleppo will allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely to provide food supplies, infrastructure and medical services for the roughly 250,000 people believed to be trapped inside the city.

Rebel gains this weekend could change the balance of power in Aleppo, after Assad said a siege by government and allied forces on rebel-held east Aleppo in early July was a prelude to re-taking the city. The loss of Aleppo would be a crushing blow for rebels.

Rebels have been trying to break through a thin strip of government-controlled territory to reconnect insurgent areas in western Syria with their encircled sector of eastern Aleppo, in effect breaking a government siege begun last month.

No group has claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. ISIS fighters are not active in the area, but there are other Islamist rebel groups there, as well as moderates backed by the US and its allies.

For five years, the US has argued that Assad has lost the legitimacy to lead Syria because of the suffering his forces have inflicted on civilians. Russian officials question who might succeed him and argue that chaos would be worse.

The cessation in hostilities has been unravelling for weeks and the Syrian government has largely blocked humanitarian aid access despite repeated UN appeals to prevent civilians starving in besieged towns.

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